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buck and rear. Just as the two momentarily dazed dogs rose and ran to
the woods to join their turncoat friend, Tessa lost her mount, flew
through the air, and fell to the ground, landing with a thud and a cry
of pain.
Gavan was upon her in an instant. Not wanting to move her in
case of spinal injury, he dropped to his knees, gently caressed her face
with his big, rough hand, and begged her to open her eyes.
“Please lass, open your eyes and look at me. I’m goin’ tae run and
call an ambulance, just try tae look at me first and tell me you’re
okay,” he pleaded.
Tessa’s eyes fluttered open. “Okay?” she moaned, “No, I’m not
okay. I feel like an ass, I’m pissed off, and my ankle hurts like hell!”
Gavan, stunned, just looked at her beautiful face for a moment and
then sat back on his heels to laugh with nervous relief. He brought his
hand to his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and
forefinger. Leave it to her to immediately be so irritated at what could
Tessa’s Highlander
47
have been a very tragic incident.
Placing one arm behind her back and the other under her knees, he
scooped her up like she was no more substantial than a rag doll and
headed toward the house.
She squirmed in his arms. “Gavan, I have to get Blanco. I don’t
even know where he ran to.” As she said this, they both looked in the
direction of the barn and saw the white stallion standing next to it,
munching on the recent alfalfa delivery she’d planned to haul into the
barn when she returned from her ride.
Seeing that the horse was obviously content and going nowhere,
Gavan said, “I’ll get you intae the house and settled with your ankle
up, then I’ll see tae the horse. My family has a horse farm, so don’t
worry, he’ll be in capable hands.”
Once in the house, Gavan planted Tessa on the couch and gingerly
removed her riding boots. With great care, he assessed her ankle to
decide whether or not they needed to rush directly to the emergency
room or if he did, in fact, have time tend to the horse and get it to
safety before the feral dogs returned. He instinctively knew that if
Tessa wasn’t in dire need of medical attention and something
happened to her horse, she would be devastated. After a few minutes
of inspecting, flexing, and extending—all the while enjoying having
her delicate little foot in his hands—Tessa convinced him that she
would be fine for a little while with an ice bag, a glass of water, and
some ibuprofen. Gavan propped the twisted ankle up on a pile of
pillows and placed a bag of frozen peas atop it. He handed Tessa her
glass of water and the pills, asked three times if she needed anything
else, and left to take care of Blanco.
* * * *
By leaning off the side of the couch as far as possible, palm on the
floor to support her upper body, and craning her neck way to the side,
Tessa managed to watch the rear view of Gavan walk all the way to
48
Cooper Lovell
the awaiting Blanco. She wasn’t aware of pain in her ankle at all as he
covered the distance from the house to the barn. Ibuprofen or even
morphine couldn’t hold a candle to that sight as a painkiller. When he
took hold of Blanco’s reigns to lead him into the barn and was out of
sight, Tessa leaned back and closed her eyes to relax.
* * * *
The aroma of one of life’s ultimate comfort foods woke her.
Mmmm…grilled cheese sandwiches. She sat up all the way, looked
over the back of the sofa into the kitchen, and watched Gavan
maneuver his way around. The oversize, grand scale of the house
seemed to be custom-made for this giant man. As she thought of how
perfectly her kitchen fit him, a funny, warm feeling spread through
her. Gavan looked up and saw that she was awake.
“How are you, lass?” he said with concern. “Are you in much
pain? I din’na want tae wake you. Rest is probably good. I can stop
this and take you tae the hospital now if you’d like.”
Tessa reached down and moved the bag of mushy, now-thawed
peas to look at her ankle.
“There’s only a bit of swelling,” she reported happily and spent a
few minutes rolling her ankle around. While it felt tight, there really
was no pain. The look on his face told her he wasn’t convinced, so
she spent the next few minutes assuring him there was no need for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]